Roll changing means and methods



1, 1970 R. A. WOLFENDALE 3,543,556

ROLL CHANGING MEANS AND METHODS Filed Aug. 29, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet l [1V VEIVTOR [1/1 167F403! IT 1970 R. A. WOLFENDALE 3,

ROLL CHANGING MEANS AND METHODS Filed Aug. 29, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [114' m1 worm m6 United States Patent 3,543,556 ROLL CHANGING MEANS AND METHODS Ray A. Wolfendale, Fox Chapel, Pa., assignor to Mesta Machine Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Aug. 29, 1967, Ser. No. 664,040 Int. Cl. B21b 31/10 US. Cl. 72-238 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Means are disclosed for adjusting the elevation of the spindle couplings provided for a four-high mill stand or the like to facilitate changing the work rolls. The lower spindle coupling is adjustably supported by a plunger arrangement associated with the roll changing rails. The upper spindle coupling is adjustably supported by a bracket and cylinder arrangement. With this invention the spindle couplings can be pre-set and maintained at the proper elevation so that the work rolls can be easily engaged and disengaged therewith during the changing operation.

The present invention relates to roll changing means and methods of roll changing and particularly to novel means for accommodating differing diameters of work rolls in a roll mill or the like and for inserting the spindle ends of the work rolls onto the spindle couplings.

In the past a number of methods and means for changing the aforementioned work rolls have been developed. For example, one roll of a rolling mill was changed at a time using a hollow sleeve and counterweight together with an overhead crane. This practice is much too slow and costly, particularly because of the difiiculty of engaging the spindle ends of the rolls With their respective couplings. A more recent method for removing rolls have been a turntable arrangement in which work rolls to be inserted into a roll are placed on one half of a turntable and the rolls to be removed are pulled onto the other half, the table rotated and the new rolls inserted. In addition to the disadvantages of having two sets of work rolls close to the mill and blocking vision while otherwise generally obstructing the area around the mill, the use of a turntable does not alleviate the problem of inserting the roll spindle ends into the spindle couplings. The entire table arrangement had to be removed in order to change the back-up rolls. This is a time-consuming operation and requires heavy handling equipment.

The method and apparatus of my invention eliminates all manual operations and handling of the work rolls when inserting their spindle ends into the spindle couplings. Moreover, my novel apparatus can be automatically adjusted to accommodate the differing diameters of work rolls employed in the rolling mill. Although my method and apparatus can be employed With conventional means and methods for changing work rolls, it is particularly advantageous in conjunction with the method and means described and claimed in the co-pending, co-assigned application of Ray A. Wolfendale et a1. entitled, Automatic Roll Changing Means and Methods of Roll Changing, Ser. No. 540,245, filed Apr. 5, 1965, and now Pat. No. 3,376,724. Thus, the practice of my present invention therewith frees the area of obstruction both before and after roll changing and positioning the removed rolls so that they can be taken from the roll area at leisure after the pressing operations of roll changing have been accomplished. In addition, the time-consuming activity of fitting the work roll spindle ends into the spindle couplings is largely eliminated regardless of the particular diameter of the work rolls being replaced or removed.

This significantly reduces the lost time during roll changes and the hazards which accompany conventional roll changing techniques and particularly conventional means and methods for inserting the roll spindle ends into the spindle couplings.

I accomplish these desirable results by providing in a mill stand, the combination comprising means for supporting a pair of juxtaposed work rolls between a pair of back-up rolls, means for supporting a pair of spindle couplings in generally axial alignment with said work rolls respectively, at least one of said spindle coupling supporting means including a vertically movable bracket for supporting and aligning an associated one of said spindle couplings with an adjacent one of said work rolls, said bracket being slidably mounted on a framework for said mill stand, and means for selectively raising and lowering said bracket.

In other applications of my novel apparatus, I also provide means for withdrawing and installing work rolls between the back-up rolls of a mill stand and for inserting at least the lower work roll spindle end into a spindle coupling therefor, said means comprising a pair of supporting rails extending spacedly and transversely into the space between said back-up rolls, wheel supported carrier means engageable with said work rolls and mounted on said rails, elevating means for supporting each of said rails, means for raising and lowering said elevating means and said rails to determine the proper elevation of said work rolls within said mill stand, and a support for said spindle coupling mounted on the adjacent end portions of said rails for raising and lowering said spindle coupling therewith to maintain alignment between said spindle coupling and the associated one of said work rolls until said roll spindle end can be inserted thereinto.

In still other applications, I also prefer to provide a vertically movable bracket for a spindle coupling associated with the other of said work rolls, said bracket being slidably mounted on a framework of said mill stand, and means for raising and lowering said bracket in order to align said spindle coupling with the spindle end of said other work roll.

During the foregoing discussion various objects, features and advantages of the invention have been set forth. These and other objects features and advantages of the invention will be elaborated upon during the forthcoming discussion of certain presently preferred embodiments of the invention together with presently preferred methods of practicing the same.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown presently preferred embodiments of the invention and have illustrated presently preferred methods of practicing the same in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially sectioned, side elevational view of an exemplary four-high mill stand incorporating the novel means and methods of my present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial rear elevational view of the apparatus as shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus as shown in FIG. 1 and taken along reference line III-III thereof.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings a four-high mill stand 10 is illustrated therein and is provided with back-up rolls 12 and 14 and work rolls 16 and 18. Chain outlines 16' and 18 indicate respectively the use of smaller diameter work rolls. The back-up rolls 12 and 14 are mounted in the conventional manner on the mill stand framework 20, with the upper back-up roll 12 being positioned in accordance with the usual practice on a number of balancing plungers 22. Similar plungers 24 shown here in either withdrawn positions, are engageable with the bearing housing 26 of the upper work roll 16. The back-up roll plungers 22 are employed to separate the back-up rolls 12, 14 when the pair of work rolls 16, 18 are being removed or inserted. The work roll plungers 24 are employed to slidably extend upper bearing housing 26 from the lower bearing housing 27 to separate the work rolls when required. As better shown in FIG. 1 the upper and lower bearing housings 26, 27 are slidably engaged in the conventional manner as denoted by reference characters 29.

As better shown in FIG. 3 the spindle end 28 of the upper work roll 16 is inserted into spindle coupling 30 forming part of upper spindle 32. In a similar manner the spindle end 34 of the lower work roll 18 is inserted into coupling 36 of lower spindle 38. The spindles 32 and 38 are coupled to conventional drive means (not shown) for respectively rotating the spindles.

The spindles 32 and 38 are connected to their drive means through conventional universal joints (not shown) so that the spindle couplings 30 and 38 can be raised or lowered as required to align the spindles with work rolls of diameters to facilitate insertion of roll ends 28 and 34 into spindle couplings 30 and 36 respectively. Inasmuch as both the work rolls 16 and 18 and the spindles 32 and 38 are rather heavy, it is extremely desirable to provide some means for conveniently raising and lowering the spindles 32 and 38 without resorting to the use of overhead cranes or other heavy handling equipment. It is also desirable that the aforementioned raising and lowering means be relatively inexpensive and uncomplicated so that it can be installed on or at each stand of the rolling mill. Thus, the use of heavy handling equipment is not only eliminated but also the necessity of moving handling equipment from one mill stand to another.

In furtherance of this purpose elevating means are provided at each mill stand such as the stand for raising and lowering each of the spindles 32 and 38 and the couplings 30 and 36 respectively forming part thereof in order to facilitate insertion of the work roll spindle ends 28 and 34 therein. In the case of the upper spindle 32 an elevator bracket 40 is provided, on which the spindle coupling 30 is supported by means of pads 42 afiixed to mitered tubular members 43 and 44 forming part of the bracket 40.

The adjacent one of the tubes 44 is secured to arm 46 which in turn is secured to slidably mounted support 48. The support 48 is mounted for vertical movement on a supporting tube or cylinder 50 secured to the mill framework by means of upper and lower brackets 52 and 54. The support 48 is raised and lowered as required, and with it the bracket 40 and the upper spindle coupling 30 by means of a hydraulic cylinder 56 or other suitable elevating means.

The action of the cylinder 56 is controlled by linear actuator 58, of conventional design, which admits sufficient hydraulic fluid or the like to the cylinder 56 to position the upper bracket 40 and spindle 32 at the proper elevation. In an illustrative embodiment of my invention the linear actuator 58 controls the emission of fluid such that work rolls 16 and 18 with a diameter varying between 26 inches and 28% inches can be accommodated. As a result the upper spindle 32 can be positioned remotely by conventional remote control means (not shown) coupled to the linear actuator 58. -In FIG. 1 the solid outline position of the upper bracket 40 represents the position of the bracket and spindle when using maximum diameter work rolls while the chain outline position 59 of the bracket represents the lower position thereof when using smaller diameter work rolls.

In this arrangement of the invention the pair of work rolls 16, 18 are inserted and removed from the area between the separated back-up rolls 12, 14 by mounting the rolls on a carrier 60 forming part of the lower hearing housing 27. The carrier 60 includes a number of flanged wheels 62 rotatably mounted thereon for engagement with a pair of rails 64. The work rolls can be initially positioned on and removed from the rails 64 by conventional roll-changing apparatus or more desirably, by the roll-changing means and method described and claimed in the aforementioned co-pending application of Ray A. Wolfendale et al. The rolls 16 and 18 are moved in and out of the mill stand 10 on the rails 64 by means of a push-rod and rack 66 secured to the carrier 60 as better shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, which co-operates with output pinion 68 of speed reducer 70. The speed reducer is coupled to an electric motor 72 or other suitable drive means.

After the work rolls 16 and 18, which are secured in an over-under relationship by the sliding engagements 29 of their bearing housings 26, 27 are positioned on the rails 64 the latter are raised to the desired elevation of the work rolls within the mill stand 10 by suitable elevating means coupled to the rails 64.

As better shown in FIG. 1 one form of such elevating means includes pairs of C-clarnps 74 secured to the frame 20 of the mill stand. Within the openings 76 of the C-clamps 74 a number of hydraulic plungers 78 are mounted. Each of the plungers has necked-down rod portions 80 and 82 which are respectively inserted into the bores 84 and 86 machined in the adjacent body portions of the associated C-clamps 74. The outer end of one of the bores for example bore 86 can be closed by a removable screw plug 88 to facilitate assembly and disassembly of the elevating means.

The central or rotational axis of the lower work roll 18 will always lie on the same elevational plane denoted by chain reference line 90 irrespective of work roll diameter during the roll changing operation. Therefore, a lower spindle coupling support 92 is likewise mounted on the rails 64, for example at the ends thereof as better shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, so that the lower spindle coupling support 92 can be raised and lowered with the carrier 60. Accordingly, the lower spindle coupling can be matched with the adjacent roll spindle end 34 for facile insertion therein. Slight differences in elevation can be accommodated by adjustable pads 94 mounted on the spindle coupling support 92. With this arrangement when the roll changing rails 64 of the mill stand 10 are elevated to the floor line, the lower spindle 38 is likewise raised to the elevation of the lower replacement roll and held there until the spindle end 34 of the lower replacement roll is inserted into the lower spindle coupling 38. On the other hand, the elevation of the central axis of the upper roll 16 will vary with the diameter of the work rolls 16, 18. Therefore, the upper spindle bracket 40 is desirably made precisely adjustable as to elevation so that the upper spindle coupling or head 30 can be easily positioned and aligned for engagement with the spindle end 28 of the upper roll regardless of it diameters within the limits imposed in the mill stand 10. The precise elevation of the upper bracket 40 is controlled by the linear actuator 58 as set forth above.

When the work rolls 16 and 18 are thus positioned and inserted into their respective spindles 32 and 38, the supporting rails 64 are lowered by the elevating means 74-78, which also remove the lower spindle support 92 and the carrier 60 from engagement with their respective components of the mill stand 10. At this time the upper spindle coupling support 40 is likewise lowered slightly to permit the upper spindle 32 to rotate freely.

With this arrangement the work rolls 16 and 18 can be readily inserted or removed from the roll stand 10 and elevated to their proper positions by use of the rails 64, the carriage drive 7072 and the rail elevating means 74-78. At the same time the spindles 32, 38 can be accurately positioned by means of the upper and lower spindle supports or brackets 40, 92. Thus, work rolls 16, 18 in need of replacement can be removed, and new rolls inserted and engaged with their respective spindles with a minimum of effort and handling. Accordingly, the heavy handling equipment conventionally utilized for this purpose is largely eliminated.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that novel and efiicient forms of roll changing means have been described herein. While I have shown and described certain presently preferred embodiments of the invention and have illustrated presently preferred methods of practicing the same, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Means for withdrawing and installing work rolls between back-up rolls of a mill stand and for inserting at least the lower work roll spindle end into a spindle coupling therefor, said means comprising a pair of supporting rails mounted on said mill stand and extending spacedly and transversely into the space between said back-up rolls, said rails terminating adjacent said spindle coupling, wheel supported carrier means engageable with said work rolls and mounted on said rails, elevating means mounted on said mill stand for supporting each of said rails, means for raising and lowering said elevating means and said rails to determine the proper elevation of said work rolls within said mill stand, and a support for said spindle coupling mounted on the adjacent end portions of said rails and engageable with said spindle coupling for raising and lowering said spindle coupling therewith to maintain alignment between said spindle coupling and the associated one of said work rolls until said roll spindle end can be inserted thereinto.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein there are provided a vertically movable bracket for a spindle coupling associated with the other of said work rolls, said bracket being slidably mounted on a framework of said mill stand, and means for raising and lowering said bracket in order to align said spindle coupling with the spindle end of said other work roll.

3. In a mill stand the combination comprising a framework, means for supporting a pair of juxtaposed work rolls between a pair of back up rolls on said framework, means mounted on said framework for supporting and aligning a pair of spindle couplings axially with said work rolls respectively, each of said supporting and aligning means including a vertically movable bracket individually engagable with the associated one of said spindle couplings, means for mounting each of said brackets for vertical sliding movement on said framework, and means for vertically and independently moving each of said brackets to permit independent alignment of each of said brackets and the associated spindle coupling supported thereon with the associated one of said work rolls, and said moving means being moveable independently to pisitions respectively of disengagement with said spindle couplings after the latter are engaged with said work rolls.

4. The combination according to claim 3 wherein at least one of said moving means includes a hydraulic cylinder operatively connected to the associated bracket and a linear actuator coupled to said cylinder to control the amount of hydraulic fluid supplied to said cylinder.

5. The combination according to claim 2 wherein drive means are coupled to said carrier for propelling said carrier and said work rolls longitudinally along said rails.

6, The combination according to claim 1 wherein said elevating means each includes a C-clamp secured to a framework of said mill stand and hydraulic plunger means mounted for reciprocation therein and secured to an associated one of said rails.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,363,378 11/1944 Young 72---238 2,815,690 12/1957 OMalley et al 72239 3,312,096 4/1967 Stubbs et a1. 72238 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner B. J. MUSTAIKIS, Assistant Examiner 

